The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals

"The sense of continuity between people and other animals underlies everything that Darwin ever wrote. He doesn’t address it explicitly in On the Origin of Species but it’s the focus of the The Descent of Man . The Expressions of Emotion in Man and Animals addresses the set of human characteristics that are most likely to be fixed on by people who wish to emphasise the distinction between people and other animals. “The bar keeps getting raised higher as people discover that animals can do one thing after another” Since chimpanzees were brought to Europe 300-odd years ago, it’s been clear that there are strong similarities—physically and anatomically—between humans and chimps and other primates. Yet when people focused on this, they tended to focus on things that seem non-functional like the shape of the ear or the flatness of the fingernails. So, whatever people wanted to believe about creation, it was clear that from a purely physical perspective we are close. And you can still see it to this day. When people are concerned about difference, or when they have another axe to grind, they focus on mental state. Sometimes people claim that it is the fineness of our emotions that distinguishes us from other animals, as well as our superior intelligence and our ability to use language. But the bar keeps getting raised higher as people discover that animals can do one thing after another. Darwin’s books sold very well. The reason I didn’t choose one of his very long books, The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication , is a memorable review from an agricultural journal that imagined a farmer who made valiant attempts to read the book giving up, and going to bed. The Expressions of Emotion in Man and Animals is shorter and has pictures of people and animals expressing different emotional states."